| Title | : | A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0091902673 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780091902674 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2006 |
However, Tony's hopelessly ill-prepared stumbling into the world of overseas home ownership is perhaps best read as a useful manual of how not to go about buying a house abroad. Yet as Tony and his small group of friends haplessly attempt to integrate themselves into local village life, they learn more about themselves and each other than they ever thought possible.
And for at least one of them, love is found at last, in the most unexpected of places...
A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains Reviews
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I actually found this book left on a train that I was travelling on and having heard of if not actually read “Round Ireland with a Fridge” I picked up fully expecting to find him pushing a piano up and down the mountains between France and Spain. What I got was something very different.
When a skiing trip goes wrong and spurred on by the knowledge that one of his friends already owns a house in the country, Hawks impulsively buys a house in the French Pyrenees. Soon enough, he has to set about moving himself and his piano to the continent.
The problem is that the idea behind the book is pretty mundane, something any one of us could probably do, finances and desire permitting. This meant that I couldn't entirely trust what I was being told, that he hadn't felt the need to add his own comic twist and exaggerate. Whilst I enjoyed parts of this book, his attempts to move the piano to France in a van immediately springs to mind, at the same time it felt forced or more accurately part of a stand up routine. I found it refreshing that he tried to integrate himself into the native community with all its cultural mix-ups rather than simply mix with fellow ex-pats.
I enjoyed Hawks writing and I read large parts of it with a smile on my face but ultimately I only found this an OK read. -
I can't quite decide whether to give this book three or four stars. It's a nice enough book and Tony's writing style prompts me in the direction of four stars, but the lack of an interesting plot and the silly ending push me towards three. I loved 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' and 'One Hit Wonderland', but while this one was fun while reading, it didn't leave me quite as happy as the other two. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that while Fridge and Wonderland were stories about a goal Tony was working towards, Piano is just a story about some stuff that happens to him. If there is a goal at all, it's Getting A Chick (and I'm not talking about the 20 baby chickens to be won at Bingo - if only he had ended up with them instead of with a soppy romance, I would've been much happier). And while Getting A Chick is undoubtedly a goal with which many people can identify, I'm one of those antisocial weirdo's who can't, and who feel it's silly to ruin a perfectly good story by pretending that ending up in a relationship is a satisfying ending. If I wanted endings like that, I'd turn to Mills and Boon...
So, yeah, well. Didn't like the ending, missed direction in this book. Still, I was tempted to give it four stars, so it certainly wasn't all bad. Quite the contrary - it has enough stuff to keep the reader hugely entertained. Tony's 'mildly' self-deprecating sense of humour is wonderful and he writes in an easy and cheerful style that I really enjoy. Also, I love his be-happy-go-lucky attitude toward life, and I even got A Message from this book about not worrying too much, taking life as it comes, etcetera whatever. -
Reading a book by Tony Hawks is always a fun day an a half. There is nothing about them that causes the job to be drawn out, a few things about them that cause me to think, and a good deal about them that cause me to laugh and enjoy myself. (Not to mention that I get to spend a good 3 or 4 conversations per book saying "No, that's Tony Hawk -- no 's' -- and this Tony Hawks doesn't skate board".)
As an author he takes a voice that I hope isn't too different from his actual voice: not too serious, a bit more than a bit sarcastic, and one that can easily weave together reoccurring punchlines. The result is two-fold: he is able to create whimsical non-fiction narratives and I am now convinced that he would be the perfect person to meet in a pub on an average night in Sussex.
The book is about his adventures buying, moving into and living in a house in the French Pyrenees. It includes a bit of deciding to settle down and find someone to love, a whole lot of misunderstandings, and a village full of French characters. I enjoyed my Saturday reading it: I laughed a good deal and found myself going to bed with dreams of my own little house on the continent that I could escape to with my friends and loved ones. -
n easy-going, quite enjoyable book - I found it effortless and quite funny - perfect for someone who wants something they can pick up and put down without any fear of losing of track of where they got to.
On the flip-side, bearing in mind I like a real page-turner, something a bit gritty - this was not the book for me. I didn't real find that anything about Tony's French adventure inspired me to race onto the next page and to be honest, I'm not sure that I would have bothered writing about my experience if I was him - not a great deal happened.
It was more like a cross between a travel guide, a journal and a GCSE essay.
I hate the words 'nice' and 'good' as they are so undescriptive but in this case they are just right. Nothing amazing - wouldn't recommend it - but have read far worse. -
The man who makes silly bets is back. But this book isn't about hitchhiking around Ireland with a fridge, playing the Moldovans at tennis or getting a hit song in Europe, it's about Hawks' problems when he bought a house in the French Pyrenees, and the piano that he took there.
My worst fears were averted when the titular piano got safely to the house in about chapter two or three, leaving the rest of the book to be about him settling into life in a tiny French village. This book sees a middle-aged, more contemplative Hawks, reflecting on his life and his friends, with the house being the focus that draws this out.
The first half is quite amusing but it's the second that had the more laugh out loud moments. Very different, but possibly his best book since
Round Ireland with a Fridge. In saying that, the person who gave me the book said that it doesn't necessarily have re-readability, so I'll reserve final judgement and see if it makes me want to read it again. -
A book I bought for my wife for Xmas. She enjoyed. I have yet to read. I quite enjoyed this story. It's a light, entertaining read. Tony Hawks has a comfortable style about him. His descriptions of the Pyrenees village where he purchased his house puts you in the locale. His relationships with the villagers and also with his friends who help him as he gets settled make for entertaining reading. Quite an engaging book.
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This non-fiction book tells the story of what happened when a middle-aged British comedian called Tony Hawks decided to buy a house in France, almost on a whim. He also decided to take his piano over there so that he could finally learn to play the thing.
It was a fun little book, and overall I found it to be a pleasure to work my way through it. My only real complaint would be that the pacing was a little off, in that it felt as though the whole book covered a period of just a couple of months or so.
Other than that though, there were some great little insights into French culture here, as well as a few smatterings of French dialogue that were enjoyable for me as someone who’s slowly but surely trying to learn the language. There were also some great little examples of culture shock or of misunderstandings, particularly when Hawks was trying to navigate the complicated French legal landscape to purchase properties and to build swimming pools, despite being utterly useless at assembling basic flat packs.
I’ve read a couple of Hawks’ other books at this point, and tonality and sense of humour wise, it’s pretty similar to those. That means that if you enjoyed Round Ireland with a Fridge, for example, then you’re probably going to enjoy this one too. Sure, his sense of humour might not be quite right for everyone, but Hawks has always made me laugh and he did so here, too.
There were occasional borderline sexist comments in it here and there, but then I suppose that gave it a certain sense of realness. He was a single bloke surrounded by Frenchwomen, after all. But overall, yeah. -
Tony Hawks hitchhikes around Ireland with a mini-fridge: laugh-out-loud funny
Tony Hawks plays tennis against each member of the Moldovan national soccer team: hilarious
Tony Hawks has a mid-life crisis, buys a house in the French Pyrenees, mopes about his love life, and wraps the whole thing up with a sappy reference to "Nature Boy": mildly amusing -
Totally hilarious, British humor at its best.
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I really like Tony Hawks' style of writing, it's so easy to read. I didn't laugh out loud while reading this (unlike when I was reading "Round Ireland with a fridge" but I certainly sniggered a few times!
As always, life is never straightforward for Tony...from the hiring of a van to the digging of a swimming pool...nothing goes according to plan....but it does make for some good, amusing reading. -
Laugh out loud/snort out loud funny and at times poignant, it did make me long for some peace and quiet rather than the OH always watching TV and the volume creeping up. Enjoy this if you get to it soon - thinking of you on that one, Grinchy!
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Hawks stumbles into something like a mid-life crossroads after announcing his retirement from a decidedly average 5-a-side soccer career with his mates. At this life-changing event he deciding that the two things he wants most in life is to meet his soulmate and to find lovely house abroad somewhere. For most of us, this simply would have been an ill-advised thought over a pint and a bag of crisps. For a man who has made his name out of taking on wagers such as lugging a fridge around Ireland for 100 pounds or attempting to beat all eleven members of the Moldovan soccer team at tennis with the loser having to strip naked on Balham High Road and sing the Moldovan national anthem, it is inevitable that this course of action will be put into practice.
On his next skiiing trip in the Pryenees, one of his friends becomes injured and with little chance of spending time on the slopes he quickly finds himself in a real estate agent's office rashly signing up to buy a French country house. From here, Hawks regales us with amusing escapades of his immersion into the local community as he mangles the French language, hits upon local village woman, entertains a raft of his English friends and displays his musical talent at the village fêtes.
A Piano in the Pyrenees conjures up immediate comparisons to Peter Mayle's uber-popular book A Year in Provence which details Mayle's first year as a British ex-pat in Menerbes, France. I'll have to profess to having not actually read Mayle's book (although I have seen the Russell Crowe movie A Good Year, which is based on his novel of the same name), but I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that the way they write about their approaches to leading an ex-pat life in France is likely to be poles apart. Whereas Mayle's book appears to cover off the in-depth renovations on his newly purchased house (amongst a lot of other things), Hawks' renovations mostly consist of getting his builder mate to assist with putting in a swimming pool - an exercise that seems well outside both men's capabilities.
A Piano in the Pyrenees paints a beautiful picture of the simplified village lifestyle and the mostly ups and downs of trying to make a go of it as an ex-pat. Hawks' has an easy-going storytelling fashion and his story is extremely likeable, albeit one which is somewhat lacking in substance and one which is doused in a fair amount of laddish humour. Don't expect any real soul-searching moments, although anyone having read any of Hawks books previously, wouldn't have expected that. Rather, what you can expect is a genuinely nice read, accompanied with visions of Hawks tickling the ivories in an idyllic location. -
This was a pretty good find. I was glancing through the "Travel Essay" section at the bookstore, to see if there was anything I'd missed recently, and A Piano in the Pyrenees caught my eye for a few of reasons. 1) I try to keep my eyes open for piano related books for Mich. 2) I've driven through the Pyrenees and thought it was a pretty cool area. 3) I've read and enjoyed almost everything else by Tony Hawks.
The couple of Hawks' other books that I've read centered around obscure bets he's made with drinking buddies: whether he could hitchhike around Ireland with a refrigerator in less than a month, or whether he could beat the entire Moldovan soccer team at tennis. Funny stuff. This one was a bit different; the classic story of Londoner buying second home in some part of France and dealing with the culture, bureaucracy, people, etc. Yeah, I know it's been done before, but this one sure was fun. Hawks' sense of humor and comedic timing had me giggling an embarrassing amount on the plane ride I was reading this on. Excellent. -
A mildly amusing and gentle read, but nowhere near as amusing as Round Ireland etc. I almost completely lost patience when he lapsed into his best Mills and Boon speak.
Given that this book documents the purchase of a second home in the Pyrenees I find myself mentally debating the second home issue. Of course being in the "enviable" position of not being able to afford one home it is easy to consider second home ownership in a less than favourable light. Maybe my 2 stars are based on prejudice but I don't think so. Not Mr Hawks' best effort. I do like Ron though,whose answer to the trials of life can be summed up in 5 words. " Best put the kettle on." -
I was disappointed with this read. It's an easy-going and pleasant travelogue, but not much more. I expected some witty insights or clever humor, but found neither. I've heard great things about this author, and will likely try again with another of his books, but overall I found this book bland and uneventful.
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less hilarious than his other books that i had previously read (Round Ireland with a Fridge, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis), but there are still some profound snippets about bureaucracy, life, mortality, and romance (the latter was remarkably lacking in his other books) tucked in between Tony Hawks’ humor and (sometimes) snarky observations.
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I laughed out loud in lots of spots.... Just what I need right now!
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There is a sub-genre of travel literature that I am familiar with [1], namely that of the humorous and somewhat daft Englishman traveling abroad. This book fits squarely within that tradition, and if you are familiar with its tropes, and at least mildly tolerant of its bumbling middle-aged male protagonist, there is a fair amount here to enjoy. Without a question, the author is very Nathanish, buying a home in the French Pyrenees on a bit of an impulse, continually hounded by people who harass him about being single, dealing with the joys of translating and trying to understand those around him, and generally being awkward in a mostly endearing way. The enjoyment here is one of familiarity with the author being a fish-out-of-water, with his endearing tendency to find awkward situations and deal with them with a self-effacing sense of humor, and with his humorous footnote asides. Not all readers are fond of bumbling Englishman abroad, but as a well-traveled and occasionally bumbling American I found a lot to appreciate in this book even if it was a bit melancholy for me to finish reading.
This narrative arc of this book is not a particularly complex one. The author finds himself somewhat at a loss with what to do with life, and on a whim buys a house in the French Pyrenees with visions of finding himself a nice French girl and practicing the piano and living an elegant life of bucolic land ownership. He finds himself afflicted with a curse of white vans--at various points he is the owner of a white van that proves a disastrous purchase, rents a van where he gets pulled over by the French traffic police, and is a driver in another car that is run into by a white van. He gets to meet his neighbors and take place in their local traditions like eating large amounts of food, engaging in Catholic religious tourism, following sheep around the hillside, digging a swimming pool, playing bingo, and involving himself in various ad hoc musical entertainments. He makes himself at home in the area and finds himself fond of his neighbors and their quirks even as they find him to be an endearing and generally enjoyable neighbor despite a certain timidity on his part. And the book even ends happily for him as he finds his French house a good place to begin a relationship.
Perhaps this book would have been less melancholy for me if its portrayal of the life of a creative but not particularly brave middle-aged man had not been so on-the-nose. The author comes off as a bit of a try-hard, but as someone who is certainly that sort of person I cannot fault the author for being a bit too eager to find someone, which leads his neighbors to prank him about an imaginary French girlfriend, leads him into some ambivalent flirtations that go nowhere, and eventually lead him into a relationship with someone he had known for more than a dozen years. The author, it must be recognized, is not someone who lives in a hurry despite his occasional impulse purchases (house, pool, car). By and large he strikes the reader as someone whose bachelorhood has led him to remain a bit immature but not as someone who is hopeless when it comes to development. The fact that his longings for stability lead him to buy a home demonstrate that he is the sort of person who wants permanency in life, even if he had been previously unable to find it in his romantic life. Alas, the author is a character I know all too well, and he is too close for me to feel comfortable laughing at him as is the convention of this genre of literature.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017... -
English review below the Greek one...
Γενικά μου αρέσουν αυτού του είδους τα βιβλία με κάποιον ξένο που ταξιδεύει ή μετακομίζει σε μία άλλη χώρα, ωστόσο ορισμένα είναι πιο ενδιαφέροντα και καλογραμμένα από άλλα.
Το συγκεκριμένο δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ήταν το χειρότερο που έχω διαβάσει, ωστόσο ήταν μάλλον άνευρο και όχι ιδιαίτερα καθηλωτικό. Περίμενα περισσότερο χιούμορ και ατάκες και περισσότερα ενδιαφέροντα περιστατικά από τον συγγραφέα.
Επίσης μάλλον είμαι κυνική σαν άνθρωπος και δεν με αγγίζει ιδιαίτερα η θεματολογία της αναζήτησης της αδερφής ψυχής, ούτε νομίζω ότι ένας σύντροφος είναι απαραίτητος για να νοιώθει ένας άνθρωπος πλήρης ανα πάσα στιγμή στη ζωή του. Οπότε βαρέθηκα πολύ το όλο ρομαντικό μέρος της αφήγησης. Και τι τρέχει με τους Άγγλους άντρες συγγραφείς όταν ερχόμαστε στις Γαλλίδες γυναίκες; Μοιάζει να έχουν κάποιο φετίχ, ακόμα και άνθρωποι που έχουν ταξιδέψει σε πολλές χώρες, δεν κολλάνε τόσο με τις ντόπιες γυβαίκες συγκεκριμένα, εκτός κι αν μιλάμε για Γαλλία. Είτε τελικά ευωδόνεται κάποιο ειδύλλιο ως το τέλος του βιβλίου είτε όχι, δεν έχω συναντήσει βιβλίου του είδους από Άγγλο που να μην κάνει αναφορά στον ντόπιο γυναικείο πλυθησμό...
Ως ένα βαθμό μου άρεσε η περιγραφή του τοπίου και της τοπικής κουλτούρας και η προσπάθεια του Tony Hawks να καταλάβει αν έκανε καλά που αγόρασε σπίτι στα Πυρήναια, αν θα του ταιριάξει το μέρος, τι σημαίνει αυτή του η απόφαση και αν θα πάνε όλα καλά, ωστόσο νομίζω ότι μάλλον η όποια υπόθεση, αν μπορούμε να πούμε ότι υπάρχει υπόθεση, δεν ήταν αρκετή για να βασιστεί και να αναπτύχθεί πάνω σε αυτή ένα ολόκληρο βιβλίο.
Εντάξει να περάσει κανείς την ώρα του, αλλά όχι ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον ή αξιομνημόνευτο...
Generally speaking I enjoy reading this kind of books where someone travels and/or relocates abroad, but some books are more engaging than others.
This one was a decent read but not very captivating. I somehow expected this to be more sparky and fun, but the humor was a bit "meh" most of the time. I'm not very fond of the whole romance concept as a major aim in life or as an important element in order to feel content at all times of one's life. And what is it with Brit male authors when it comes to French women? One way or another there seems to be some fetish or something. Even reading books by an author who has travelled on other countries, there isn't so strong a commentary or reference to local women as love targets on other countries, but on France there always seem to be some reference, been fullfilled by the end of the book or not.
Up to a point I enjoyed the description of local culture and rhythm of life and the author's efforts to adapt or come to terms with his decision to buy a house abroad, but I felt there wasn't much steam to keep the premise running and hold my interest. Actually I'm not even sure if there was a premise or theme or point to justify this book.
An OK read to pass the time I guess, but nothing very memorable or noticeable. -
Tony Hawks’ narrative tends to lean towards the slightly bland as it observes the absurdity of our everyday lives. Not that traveling around Ireland with a fridge can be considered an everyday occurrence, although it was certainly absurd, but his style of observational humour tends to highlight the nuances and subtle oddities that hide just beneath the surface of society. As a style it has served Hawks admirably, but Piano in the Pyrenees was dull. It was like going into an ice-cream parlour and being told they only had vanilla.
In, Around Ireland with a Fridge, Hawks has a clearly defined purpose. Meanwhile, Piano in the Pyrenees meanders between his desires: to play the piano better, write more, eat vast quantities of food, and to find a girlfriend. There’s nothing wrong with any of these goals, but aside from eating he never really shows any commitment to any of the other things that he claims are so important to him. Because of this he often sounds like a whining child being forced to do his homework, which to me wasn’t a particularly appealing tone for a narrative. He comes across as a middle aged man suffering existential angst, perhaps when viewed as a work of existentialism the book can be considered more successful.
After reading the brilliant, Round Ireland with a Fridge, Piano in the Pyrenees was a sizable step down in entertainment. -
I wanted to give this 2.5 stars..it was OK and amusing but not as good as some of his other works. This tale of buying a house in the Pyrenees is a journey into the French unknown for Mr Hawks, and he tells it well, but there is no real opportunity for belly laughs as he guides us through the trials and tribulations of learning to fit into a small village with only some hairy friends, a piano and some rusty schoolboy French. It was a gentle read, and yes the French are as unique as their stereotype suggests, but it does seem that the villages are more friendly than one would first think, if you make the effort to learn the lingo (Mind you, if I had moved to a different country, learning the language would be high on my list of things to do in order to cope, after all it is very arrogant to expect every person in the world to speak English!). It made a change from Mr Bryson, but it's back to the fiction for now...
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A light but entertaining book on the challenges faced by UK comedian/ entertainer Tony Hawks in buying a French house in the Pyrenees. An amusing cast of characters combine with the natural difficulties of setting up home in a new country with only a limited grasp of the language to bring laughs and smiles. My own holidays in France feel much the same,
Nevertheless it is a magnificent place, particularly around that area and this tale evokes the beauty of the countryside and the characters of those who live there. Enjoyable -
I would probably have called it A Swimming Pool in the South of France. Thinking S. However as you have possibly noticed old Tony went for P. Of course it was I would have thought suggested by the editorial team he works with at his publishers. If you are expecting a piano in the back of a white van travelling around the Pyrenees you may or may not be disappointed. As you will no doubt be aware he has written other stuff. I'm going to give one of them a go...
It a relaxing funny enjoyable read. What would my gran have said "its my cup of tea". -
Very enjoyable and caught myself giggling to myself at times with the other half looking at me quizzically with a “are you going mad “ expression. This is a sort of autobiographical moving part time to France and was very entertaining. Loved the local characters and his friends were just as amusing. No real story and no tension or plot which is what I normally read but found this a very enjoyable pick up put down holiday read.
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I love the have a go spirit of those brave enough to up sticks and make the move to another country, tackling the change of culture and language head on. Though there are the inevitable challenges it would appear from these various works, by various writers (Peter Mayle, Carol Drinkwater, Frances Mayes) that it’s rarely regretted.
